Black rings in more than five dimensions

We construct balanced black ring solutions in $d\geq 6$ spacetime dimensions, by solving the Einstein field equations numerically with suitable boundary conditions. The black ring solutions have a regular event horizon with $S^1\times S^{d-3}$ topology, and they approach the Minkowski background asymptotically. We analyze their global and horizon properties. The Smarr formula is well satisfied.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

Multi-black rings and the phase diagram of higher-dimensional black holes

Configurations of multiple concentric black rings play an important role in determining the pattern of branchings, connections and mergers between different phases of higher-dimensional black holes. We examine them using both approximate and (in five dimensions) exact methods. By identifying the role of the different scales in the system, we argue that it is possible to have multiple black ring configurations in which all the rings have equal temperature and angular velocity. This allows us to correct and improve in a simple, natural manner, an earlier proposal for the phase diagram of singly-rotating black holes in $D\geq 6$.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure

Braneworlds and Dark Energy

In the Randall-Sundrum scenario, we analyse the dynamics of an AdS5 braneworld when conformal matter fields propagate in five dimensions. We show that conformal fields of weight -4 are associated with stable geometries which describe the dynamics of inhomogeneous dust, generalized dark radiation and homogeneous polytropic dark energy on a spherically symmetric 3-brane embedded in the compact AdS5 orbifold. We discuss aspects of the radion stability conditions and of the localization of gravity in the vicinity of the brane.Comment: 12 pages, latex, 3 eps figures. Talk given at the Seventh Workshop on Quantum Field Theory under the Influence of External Conditions, IEEC, CSIC and University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, 5-9 September 2005. Revised version published in the workshop proceedings, J. Phys. A: Mathematical and General. Typos corrected and some changes introduced for clarit

Derivation of the blackfold effective theory

We study fluctuations and deformations of black branes over length scales larger than the horizon radius. We prove that the Einstein equations for the perturbed p-brane yield, as constraints, the equations of the effective blackfold theory. We solve the Einstein equations for the perturbed geometry and show that it remains regular on and outside the black brane horizon. This study provides an ab initio derivation of the blackfold effective theory and gives explicit expressions for the metrics near the new black holes and black branes that result from it, to leading order in a derivative expansion.Comment: 20 pages. v4: Typo corrected in eq. (6.11) -- erratum in the published versio

Born-Infeld Strings Tunneling to D-branes

Recent work on solutions to the Born-Infeld theory used to describe D-branes suggests that fundamental strings can be viewed, in a certain limit, as D-branes whose worldvolumes have collapsed to string-like configurations. Here we address the possibility of undoing this collapse, by inducing the string to tunnel to an extended brane configuration. Using semiclassical methods we argue that, by putting one of these Born-Infeld strings in the background of a uniform 4-form RR field strength, the string can nucleate a spheroidal bulge of D2-brane, or, if the string is wrapped around a small enough circle, it can tunnel to a toroidal D2-brane. This process can also be interpreted in terms of the M2-brane. We also address the extension to other D$p$-branes, and discuss the range of validity of the approximations involved.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figure

d≥5d\geq 5 static black holes with S2×Sd−4S^2\times S^{d-4} event horizon topology

We present numerical evidence for the existence of new black hole solutions in $d\geq 6$ spacetime dimensions. They approach asymptotically the Minkowski background and have an event horizon topology $S^2\times S^{d-4}$. These static solutions share the basic properties of the nonrotating black rings in five dimensions, in particular the presence of a conical singularity.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Black Hole Production at a TeV

In this talk I briefly discuss some features of a striking signature of TeV quantum gravity/strings and large extra dimensions: the production of exotic objects such as black holes, and their stringy precursors, the string resonances at large masses which can be dubbed `string balls'. The focus is on aspects less frequently discussed in other reviews of this subject.Comment: 6 pages. Invited talk at the 12th Workshop on General Relativity and Gravitation, Tokyo, November 25-28, 200

Cutoff AdS/CFT duality and the quest for braneworld black holes

We present significant evidence in favour of the holographic conjecture that ``4D black holes localized on the brane found by solving the classical bulk equations in $AdS_5$ are quantum corrected black holes and not classical ones''. The crucial test is the calculation of the quantum correction to the Newtonian potential based on a numerical computation of in Schwarzschild spacetime for matter fields in the zero temperature Boulware vacuum state. For the case of the conformally invariant scalar field the leading order term is found to be $M/45\pi r^3$. This result is equivalent to the result which was previously obtained in the weak-field approximation using Feynman diagrams and which has been shown to be equivalent, via the AdS/CFT duality, to the analogous calculation in Randall-Sundrum braneworlds. This asymptotic behavior was not captured in the analytical approximations for proposed in the literature. The 4D backreaction equations are then used to make a prediction about the existence and the possible spacetime structure of macroscopic static braneworld black holes.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure